Sally Williams from Wither Hills pops in to say Hello!

Sally & I working hard!

After meeting up at the New Zealand tasting, Sally Williams, Wither Hills winemaker popped into the shop to show me  the new Wither Hills  single estate wines that they are launching onto the market this year. The wines are a true expression of the different terroirs  that they have in the different parts of their property and worth the small premium for their wonderful quality.

Wither Hills Single Vineyard Rarangi Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough 2009

The wine has lovely vibrant herbaceous notes, passion fruit and tropical fruit with great concentration and richness on the palate balanced with seamless acidity, retailing at a Euro more then their basic Sauvignon it is well worth €14.99 Euro. Try this with some goats cheese and digestive biscuits, Heaven!

Wither Hills Single vineyard Taylor River Pinot Noir Marlborough 2007

This part of the property as the name suggests, is full of silt from an old river bed and has a lovely complex character. Bramble fruits, full  pure flavour , a subtle influence of french oak and  a lingering finish and at €23  it is worth seeking out for any Pinot Fans.

Wither Hills Single vineyard Ben Morven Pinot Noir Marlborough 2007

This Pinot Noir comes from clay soil and is  more elegant then Taylor River Pinot Noir, full of delicate cherry,strawberry bramble fruits with great finesse. This Pinot has more perfumed and floral notes which will appeal to those who prefer a lighter style. With a price of €23 it offers true finesse

It was amazing to see how different  these Pinot Noirs were and how they managed to reflect the different  soil types within this one property

Enjoy,
Julie.

JUS DE VINE, PORTMARNOCK



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New Zealand Annual Tasting 2011

Jean Smullen

New Zealand winegrowers returned to Dublin on Monday January 17th for the annual tasting in the Radisson Hotel, Golden Lane which is run every year by the indomitable Jean Smullen.
New Zealand is regarded by many as the most exciting wine brand in the trade today, with exports to Ireland of New Zealand wines up by 12% in 2010, not bad considering the economic climate.
Although there are a vast  array of styles available, Syrah is being noted as the one to watch but their signature grape variety is still Sauvignon Blanc.
All the 2010 whites were on show and the stars of the show for me were...

Greywacke Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough 2010

Made by Kevin Judd who is formerly chef winemaker at Cloudy Bay, Greywacke is the name of the silver stones in the soil of the vineyard.This is only his second vintage and it is everything one would expect to find in a classy Sauvignon with lovely citrus fruit,wonderful balance and a lovely lingering finish. The wine retails around €20  and is showing better, to my mind then the iconic Cloudy Bay which sells at around €28 .. Seek it out!

Saint Clair Marlborough Riesling 2008

A wine that won a Gold Star Award in the Irish wine show last year, it shows that lovely distinct  Riesling character of ripe lime and grapefruit with subtle hints of honeysuckle yet  most refreshing and a very easy drinking style. This wine is an ideal match for spicy food, pork with apple sauce and any fish dish and retails around €16.

Yealands Estate Pinot Gris Marlborough 2009

This is a young winery practising sustainable wine production and is one of the few Carbon neutral winery's. The Pinot Gris is a rich style with lovely pear fruit and great minerality coming through on the palate. Well worth seeking out at €16.99

Enjoy,
Julie.

JUS DE VINE, PORTMARNOCK




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Antares Sauvignon Blanc 2009

This really is a lovely glass of Sauvignon Blanc that can be opened day or night without a a qualm of conscience as to the price because it is really great value for money.
These grapes from Central Valley are able to ripen fully thanks to the excellent exposure to the sun, dry summers and a lack of rain at the time of harvest. All these factors ensure optimum fruit expression..

The 2009 Antares Sauvignon Blanc is a fresh young wine. It offers aromas of melon and pineapple with refreshing citrus notes of lime and grapefruit. The palate is soft and fruity with medium body and well balanced acidity.
This really is a vibrant zesty style of Sauvignon with lovely concentration .
Everytime I drink a glass of this my brain shouts… This wine is far too good to cost only €7.99 !

Antares Sauvignon Blanc recently received a well deserved NOFFLA Gold Star Award in Ireland.


Enjoy!Evelyn
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Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc 2008

Yesterday was one of those perfect days ; sun was splitting the stones down in Wicklow, paddling pool was out, spending the day with my two gorgeous god children and bestest pal. There was no better time to splash out and treat ourselves to something a little special ... a chilled bottle of Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc. I have to admit that I find Cloudy Bay to be overpriced and overrated but Lisa had never tried it before and as she is a huge fan of this grape thought it was only right that she tried the wine that really put New Zealand on the map. 

  A few years back independent off-licences received an allocated amount of this wine per year and I would keep a couple of cases off the floor for those customers who would ask for it in hushed tones. Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc was like the Holy grail at one stage however since the big "R" has hit us all there seems to surprisingly more of it around!! Even the fact that this was the 2008 vintage said it all...

Cloudy Bay was established in 1985 by a Western Australian winery called Cape Mentelle in the Wairau Valley in Marlborough.  The cool maritime climate of this region suits the Sauvignon Blanc grape as it allows it develop steadily and slowly which gives those gorgeous gooseberry and asparagus flavours that New Zealand has become so famous for. 

Pale straw in colour. Gooseberries, limes and herbaceous aromas. On the palate the flavours are more tropical with pineapples and some apple evident. Much lighter and elegant than the majority of Marlborough big brands but also about two and a half times the price at €24.99. Really enjoyed it as did Lisa but don't know if that was down to the balmy evening and good chat or the wine itself. Admittedly nearly two thirds of the bottle was drunk before food was served up but we had a half glass each which washed the Panzanella salad and baked potatoes down nicely. 

Till Next Time

Clare

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Cesario Frizzante Sauvignon Blanc

This Frizzante is made from 100% Sauvignon Blanc and comes from a family-owned vineyard in Mittelburgenland in Austria. The Kirnbauer family started making wine in 1979 when Irmgard and Walter(husband and wife team) bought the land and commited themselves to making superior quality wines. They are still very much involved in the running of the vineyard together with the help of their son, Markus and his wife, Alexandra.  Markus and Alexandra visited us in Cellars a few months back to introduce us to their family's wines. He works full-time in the winery whereas Alexandra works as an airhostess however it was quite apparent just how passionate she is about the wines as she would hardly let him get a word in edge ways!

  Austria is mostly known for it's dry white wines with Gruner Veltliner apparently set for world domination however the Kirnbauers are red wine producers, working with indigeneous Austrian grape varieties such as Blaufrankisch and Zweigelt. They also make small quantities of a straight chardonnay, a gorgeous Eiswein and more importantly this gorgeous little sparkler which is made in the traditional champagne method with secondary fermentation occuring in the bottle.

                                                                                                                          The Kirnbauer Family

Back in 1985, Austrain wines came under serious attack when the media realised that a few Austrian winemakers were adding a chemical to their wines that was also present in anti-freeze. This chemical apparently was added to the wines to add body and some sweetness. The Austrians were accused of trying to poison the Germans who were their biggest export market at the time and it spelled disaster for their wine industry. This whole scandal was all a little exagerated as the chemical in question is actually less toxic than alcohol but the media had a field day on it and Austrian wines dropped off the radar for a while.  As a result of the scandal the Austrian government were encouraged to improve the quality of the country's wines and put many regulations into place and now 25 years later we are seeing some super wines coming out of here.

 I particularily love this wine of theirs as not only is it something diferent to offer those looking for a nice sparkling wine but also it is light and refreshing. Most sparkling wines are made from  Burgundy grape varieties or the Prosecco grape in Italy it is not so usual to come across a sauvignon blanc sparkling. It is crown closed somewhat like a beer bottle top so you don't get that same POP that you get with a champagne but it is a frizzante so has lighter bubbles than a champagne.  Served in the famous Austrain glassware Riedel (pictured right), it has a pale straw colour.It has a very fruity nose with white peach evident. It is refreshing and light in the mouth with fine bubbles. €19.99 on the shelf, a lovely summer alternative to Cava or Prosecco.

Apparently the name is a tribute to their collie-sheep dog, Cesar  who had just turned 1 when they launched this fizz back in 2002. Unfortunately they never considered the Italian meaning to the word Cesario when launching it as they now have the only sparkling wine in the world called after a Caesarean section...

Till Next Time
Clare
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Cullen, Sauvignon/ Semillon...Aussie Wonder

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Cullen, Sauvignon/ Semillon...Aussie Wonder

Founded in 1965 by Di and Kevin Cullen, one of the pioneers of the Margaret River. There vineyards are bio-dynamic certified and one of the first to be carbon neutral (which requires the calculation of all the carbon used and carbon dioxide emitted in the winery,and the carbon is then offset by the planting of new trees, The winemaking is now managed by their infamous daughter Vanya Cullen.

Once known as surfing nirvana and for its picturesque settings, Margaret River is now a heaven for wine makers. This is an area I have been thinking about visiting for some time...

At last, here I am  in Cullen's vineyard in Margaret River Western Australia, hoping that maybe there is some family connection. We share the same surname!

Cellar doors are open to the public daily. The Vineyards  of Australia do wine tourism very well and have amazing in house restaurants  showcasing their wines. It's a very laid back place and relatively inexpensive. We had been traveling for 3 weeks now all over Australia and everyone we meet really does have the no worries attitude. The winemakers are farmers enjoying their craft.  They seem to keep things simple and it really works. After visiting a number of Australian vineyards It is clear to see that these guys treat wine tourism as a priority.

1 in 4 wines bought in Ireland last year come from Australia. This is a growing market in the Irish industry and one I would highly recommend people to visit when in Western Australia. 

Colour; Pale straw with a touch of green.

On the nose it is fresh with hits of citrus fruit.

Palate, Lovely mineral character,with a zippy tangy finish. 

Food: Oyster,Scallops, Fish.

Cheers!

Julie

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Huia Sauvignon Blanc 2008 for Easter Lamb

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Huia Sauvignon Blanc for Easter Lamb

2008 13%vol €14.95

When I was choosing the white wine for this week I had two issues.
 Firstly the traditional Easter meal of Irish spring lamb presumably served with mint sauce and all the trimmings of a really good Irish dinner. Secondly, on the basis that, many families who do not regularly drink wine may opt to have a glass of wine with the Easter meal. So my choice had to be quite user friendly and have wide appeal and therefore not be too dry. I finally settled on a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, for the New Zealanders are just as famous for their lamb as we Irish are.However as Easter falls around April I would argue that Irish spring lamb is better at this time of the year because it is actually autumn now in New Zealand as they are in the southern hemisphere.

Huia Sauvignon Blanc is made by Mike and Claire Allan, a husband and wife team on who bring some of the finest winemaking credentials to their budding 20 acre estate along Rapaura Road in Marlborough. They also have the distinguished honor of being one of the very few husband and wife teams to have studied at Roseworthy in South Australia, that continent's leading school of oenology. Furthermore, they helped the legendary Cloudy Bay estate establish itself as the leading winery in New Zealand before founding Huia, and we haven't yet mentioned the couples tenure at Veuve Clicquot and Taittinger respectfully, where they mastered the art of producing first-rate bubbly. So when it comes to making expressive, individually styled white wines with flavor and panache, no one knows how to do it better than Mike and Claire Allan.

The Sauvignon Blanc it is very pale and light in colour, with lime green hints coming through.
On the nose it is crisp and refreshing, with quite zesty green fruits, gooseberry, tangy citrus and hints of freshly cut grass. When you smell this wine deeply your mouth will water similar to how it would react to a bite of a tart green apple and see also if you can detect any of those vibrant fresh green smells?
On the palate it is very refreshing with tart tangy green apple and a confected pineapple influence( pineapple sweets).with a long crisp finish.
 Because of the type of acidity in this Sauvignon Blanc it is not a wine that will quench your thirst …quite the opposite as the acidity is slightly mouth drying so serve with moist food or have the odd glass of water! It is none the less a racy vibrant wine style
 As an aside, it is worth noting that the smells we get on a wine are reflective of smells in our smell memory that we have encountered in our every day lives .When we Northern hemisphere people taste Sauvignon Blanc we often think crisp green apple,tomatoe leaves,gooseberry,nettle or cut grass. When someone from the Southern Hemisphere tastes Sauvignon Blanc they often think passion fruit, pink grapefruit, lemon grass, mango, lime blossom; smells that reflect the warmer climate that they live in.
In conclusion what one gets on the nose of a wine is representative of the smells in your smell memory and that depends upon where you are from and the smells your memory have been exposed to..

Gotta shoot through so I’ll catch ya later.

    Evelyn 

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